‘Persuader’ is the 7th novel in the Reacher series by Lee Child and once again sees ex-military cop Jack Reacher helping federal authorities ‘off the books’.
Ten years ago, Reacher’s team of military cops set out to arrest bad guy Francis Xavier Quinn. Things went terribly wrong. Reacher discovered the mutilated body of his friend and colleague Dominique Kohl. He thought he had managed to kill Quinn, but he has just spotted him in the street. When he attempts to track him down, flags are raised within the DEA and Reacher finds himself absorbed into an ongoing DEA operation.
The DEA have their eyes on one of Quinn’s colleagues – Zachary Beck. They had an agent working undercover for Beck but she has now disappeared. Reacher agrees to find the missing agent so that he can track down Quinn in the process.
He manages to infiltrate Beck’s organisation as an armed security thug and the fun (Reacher style) begins. Reacher works his way into Beck’s confidence while quietly taking care of anyone who gets in his way – by breaking necks or shooting them. Gradually he works his way towards both the missing agent and Quinn, hoping to get there before Quinn and Beck discover who he really is.
Meanwhile one of the other DEA agents – Susan Duffy, takes Reacher’s fancy for a bit of extra-curricular activity.
This was another action packed Reacher novel, with Reacher once again saving the day for the poor incompetent Federal Agents. The body count is pretty high, but don’t worry, the dead guys are mostly baddies.
If you love high action thrillers, completely lacking in subtlety, then this is an excellent series. I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment – ‘The Enemy’.
Book Published 2003